Heracles the Strong
by Riverstone38
Summary: Athena the Wise in Heracles' point of view! Need I explain more? Rating might be changed to T later for upcoming violence.
1. Chapter 1

**I decided to write a story on this series! I don't know if I'll be able to update my other ones soon, still waiting for inspiration.:/ I was going to do a reading-the-books story, but I was afraid it might get deleted. **

**This is Heracles' POV for Athena the Wise. I hope I'm not alone here, but I've always wanted there to be a book from a Godboy's perspective. **

**Enjoy;)**

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Hercules glanced behind him for a split second. It was his first day at the MOA, but he'd already made a few friends.

"Who are they?" Heracles asked, jabbing his thumb at four Goddesses sitting behind them. Apollo gave him a look he couldn't identify.

"My sister, Artemis, and her friends," he said, and took a bite of his lunch. "Why'd you ask?" Apollo asked through a mouthful of sandwich.

Before Heracles had a chance to answer, another guy spoke up.  
"Someone's in loooove!" Poseidon teased. Heracles gave him a half-hearted shove.

Ares snorted. "With who? Aphrodite is taken, by me, of course," He flashed a smug grin. "Persephone is taken, Artemis despises all boys after what happened with Orion, and Athena isn't interested in guys, either."

Apollo gave him a look. "Yeah, because of you, from what Artemis has told me." Ares shrugged. Heracles wanted to ask what happened, but Poseidon interrupted his thoughts.  
"Hey, look, Athena's staring at you."  
Heracles face grew warm. It's not like that means anything... right? She's a goddess, and, well...I'm a mortal.

Hades laughed. "It's no big deal." But he seemed to sense Heracles' discomfort, so he changed the subject. "Hey, how did you get...that..." Hades gestured to the Nemean Lion's pelt.

Heracles grinned and gripped his club more tightly; a large, knobby, heavy stick, which wasn't a problem for Heracles. "Are you sure you want to know?"

By now, everyone sitting at the table with them was listening, and several people nodded. Heracles shrugged again. "You asked for it."

"So, this is the pelt of the Nemean Lion. I traveled there, stocked with a bow and arrows. I didn't have my club at the time. I went to a nearby village, and they pointed me in the right direction. Apparently, this particular lion had gotten a fierce reputation for killing livestock and...well...villagers. No one had been able to subdue it yet. I wish they told me why, though. It would have saved me quite a few arrows.

"I waited for the beast to appear in a large, cleared out field. It soon did. It was smaller than I expected. Surely this couldn't have caused all the trouble. Yes, it was the size of a normal lion, but the people who lived here could kill a normal lion.

"I strung my bow, and fired. The arrow hit its mark perfectly, so imagine my surprise when it bounced off! I tried again and again, but all it did was make him madder. It's skin was just so tough. Eventually, I ran out of arrows. I had no choice but to confront the beast directly.

"I chased it into its lair, wrestled it to the ground, and snapped its neck." Heracles paused. Ares shook his head in disbelief. "With what? I  
thought you said you didn't have your club!"

Heracles grinned. "My hands. What else?"

Nearly everyone there gaped. "No one is that strong!" Someone murmured.

Heracles nodded. "Well, I am."

Hades crossed his arms. "Can you just continue? You didn't explain how you're wearing that thing's skin." He said.

Heracles took a breath.

"I had to skin it, or it would come back to life. The problem was, the lion's pelt was incredibly tough, and I didn't have a knife on me, not that it would have mattered. It took me the longest time to figure out how."

Apollo glanced at Kydoimos and Makhai,(A/N: Is this right?) who, from what Heracles could tell, followed Ares around almost everywhere. "Good thing you didn't have them with you, or it would have taken you longer." He muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear him. Besides those two, everyone else, including Ares, burst into laughter.

Makhai protested, while Kydoimos just sulked.

Heracles mock threatened to brain Apollo with his club, still laughing.

Ares' eyes widened. "Can I see your club?" He asked.  
"Sure. Just be careful with it." Heracles warned, and passed it to him. Ares nearly dropped it.

The other guys oohed and aah-ed over his club. Heracles wanted to take it back, but restrained himself. It was hard, but it was something he'd been working on since the incident at his old school...Heracles shook his head ever so slightly. Stop thinking about that. He told himself. Focus on the task at hand.

Heracles hadn't told anyone about his deadline to finish...Not now. He forced himself to relax. He was almost too distracted and too busy having 'forced relaxation' that Heracles almost didn't notice Poseidon showing around his trident, or Athena getting up from her table and giving the other three girls a pointed look.

Just then, an intercom blared with Zeus' booming voice. Everyone jumped, and Poseidon dropped his trident. Someone else quickly caught it before it could hit the floor, and set it on the table with a small Clunk!. "IS THIS THING ON?" There was a tapping sound. "MS. HYDRA?" There it was again! "YOU SURE?" There was a cracking sound. Heracles winced. That didn't sound good. "CALLING ATHENA! REPORT TO MY OFFICE. PRONTO. ON THE DOUBLE!" There was a short pause. "OH YEAH, AND BY THE WAY, THIS IS PRINCIPLE ZEUS, YOUR DEAR OL' DAD, IN CASE YOU DIDN'T GUESS!"

Everyone looked at Athena. Heracles felt surprised. She's Zeus' daughter? I thought that was just a rumor!

Heracles felt kinda sorry for Athena as she rushed out of the cafeteria.

Apollo prodded Heracles with his bow. "So. How did you finally skin the Nemean Lion?"

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**First Chapter done! I know that Apollo showed off his bow, but like I said, Heracles is distracted and doesn't notice.**

**I had fun making up that 'How I killed the lion' story. **

**The chapters in this book will go along with the chapters in the original book. Speaking of which, I forgot the disclaimer! Here we go~(Hey, guys. Want to say it for me?)**

**Ares: No!**

**Aphrodite: *shoves Ares* We'd love to!**

**Ares: *Grumbles under his breath* Fine. Riverstone does not own Athena the Wise.**

**Aphrodite: Now. That wasn't so hard, was it?**

**Ares:...Yes.**

**Me: And if I did, I would push Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena, and Persephone off a cliff just to see their respective crush's faces.**

**Everyone Else: *Edges slowly away***

**Review and get a shout-out!**

** ~Riverstone38**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm really sorry, but I couldn't find time to work on this, I lost my book, got sick, had to stop halfway through and got lazy, yadayadayada.*Ducks flying objects* Good news, though. Now that I have it, I'll be able to update much faster!(Plus, this chapter is longer than the other one.) Also, I need some of you to submit some Characters. You'll see why later. The form is at the bottom. I promise, I'll try to find somewhere for everyone's person to fit in the story! Note: I'd prefer if the names were Greek or Latin. Note No.2:I'm merging Chapters 2 & 3 for this story, just because nothing really exciting happens in chapter Note 3: You can read this alongside the original book or by itself, not having read Athena the Wise at all. Your choice.**

**Shout Outs**** are at bottom A/N.**

**Enjoy~**

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Heracles finished his lunch and got up from the table. Several other Godboys got up as well. "It's about time for class. " Ares said. "What do you have first?"

Heracles whipped out his schedule, which he kept in his lion-skin cape. Heracles traced his finger down it. "Beast-ology...Hero-ology..." He muttered. "Here! Revenge-ology!"

Ares glanced down at his own schedule and made a face. "I have Hero-ology. Not looking forwards to that."

Poseidon looked surprised. "Why? You didn't get into too much trouble last time."

Ares grimaced. "I didn't do my homework."

Poseidon looked pained. "We had _homework?_" He asked.

Ares nodded. "I take it you weren't paying attention?" He said.

Poseidon grinned and shook his head sheepishly. "Nope."

Heracles laughed, and Poseidon started to say something, but the sound of the lyrebell interrupted him.

"Class will begin in about two minutes!" The herald announced, and sounded the lyrebell again. _Ping! Ping! Ping!_

Heracles put away his schedule and jogged to his locker. "See you later!" He called over his shoulder. He stopped at his locker, set his club down, and twisted the lock back and forth. _13,32,33. Click! _The door swung open, and Heracles grabbed the mound of scrolls in there. He shut his locker, awkwardly picked up his club, and turned just in time to see Athena disappear into the Revenge-ology classroom, with another girl right behind her. Heracles hurried to class. Ms. Nemesis nodded to him, giving all the scrolls he was carrying and his club a strange look. He relaxed a bit when he got into the classroom, but tripped next to a desk belonging to a girl with snakes for hair, and dropped his club. It hit the ground with a _Bam! _The sound drew everyone's attention.

"Hey, watch it with that thing!" The snaky haired girl snapped.

Heracles winced inwardly. "Sorry," He told her. She just sniffed. Heracles bent down to pick up his club. He saw something green and scaly out of the corner of his eye. More out of instinct than anything and before he knew what he was doing, Heracles' hand shot up and grabbed a handful of snakes.

"Stop!" She screamed. "You're strangling them!"

Her screams attracted the attention of their winged teacher. Ms. Nemesis gave Heracles a stern look. "Is there a problem?"

Slightly embarrassed, Heracles let go of the snakes. They drooped, and their owner glared at Heracles.

Ms. Nemesis pointed to a desk across from Athena. "Sit, please."

"Kay." Heracles went over the desk, dropping his textscrolls on it and his club on the floor beside his desk._ Wham!_ The Snake girl turned to glared at him as he sat down.

Athena leaned over. "Don't look her in the eye," She said in a hurried whisper. "She turns mortals to stone."

Heracles quickly shielded his eyes, without even stopping to wonder why she was helping him. He peeked at her through his fingers. "Thanks for the warning." Athena looked oddly satisfied, but Heracles didn't have time to dwell on it. Ms. Nemesis was writing something on the board. Heracles sat at attention, not wanting to miss anything._ I have to make good grades._ _I don't want to go back to my old school. I can't! I'd be laughed at!_ He thought.

Ms. Nemesis stopped writing, turned, and pointed to what she'd written. "What is vengeance?" She asked.

Many hands shot into the air, including Snake Hair and Athena.

"Yes, Medusa?"

Heracles blinked in surprise. _Medusa? _He had heard of her before, but Heracles thought she'd be less...Green.

"If someone does something monstrous or diabolical or just plain rotten to you-" Medusa paused to glare at Heracles for effect, who ducked-"Or your snakes, then you get to do something bad back to them."

Heracles inwardly shivered. He knew that she was warning him to leave her snakes alone.

"Okay," Ms. Nemesis said, "Can anyone expand or improve Medusa's answer?" She asked.

A little less than half the class withdrew their hands as Medusa glared at everyone in the room. Athena and a few others kept their hands up.

"Yes?" Ms. Nemesis called on Athena.

"The thing is," Athena said, "Vengeance is really revenge."

Heracles heard Medusa snort. "Duh," She muttered. "What's next? Principle Zeus shoots lightning bolts?"

Athena didn't see to hear Medusa. Either that, or she was ignoring her. Heracles couldn't tell which. "And for revenge to be fair, there needs to be balance."

She hesitated.

Ms. Nemesis nodded, looking pleased. "Keep going." She said.

"Well, It's the 'eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth' idea." Athena said.

As she said that, Heracles had an odd sense of foreboding, but he shrugged it off. It was probably nothing.

"The punishment for a wrong should fit the deed." Athena continued. "For example, if someone kicks you, you _could_ kick them back, but cutting off their leg would be going too far."

"Very good," Ms. Nemesis praised. "Would anyone else like to comment?"

Heracles felt the need to speak up. "The rules change during time of war." He offered. Lots of people were staring at him, but Heracles ignored it.

Ms. Nemesis lifted her eyebrow. "How so?" She asked.

Heracles thought hard, then shrugged. "In a war, soldiers kill at the direction of rulers, not because they've personally been wronged. The same rules don't apply."

"Interesting point," Ms. Nemesis said.

Athena stared at him in surprise, then offered him a smile.

Heracles smiled back. A small nagging thought formed at the back of his head. _What is she's the one? What if she's the strong girl? _Heracles glanced at her again._ She's nice, and pretty too. Not like Aphrodite, but good without makeup. I wouldn't mind..._Heracles shook his head to clear his thoughts._And she's a goddess. I'm just a mortal._

Just before the lyrebell sounded again, Ms. Nemesis gave them their homework. "You will all read chapters three and four in your Revenge-ology textscroll for Monday." She said, and narrowed her eyes. "Or else."

That didn't sound good, so Heracles decided to finish his Revenge-ology homework before his others.

Heracles easily slung his club up onto his shoulder, then grabbed the large pile of textscrolls. "Later," He told Athena. Holding his scrolls over his head, he started towards the door.

"Watch out!" Athena said suddenly, and before Heracles could react, several of his textscrolls scattered.

Heracles tried to grabbed them, but his club slipped from his grasp, and it fell on his foot. A sharp pain shot up through his foot and his leg. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" Heracles yelled, hopping up and down with his foot in his hands.

"Serves him right." He heard someone mutter. Heracles bit back a sharp retort.

"Are you okay?" Ms. Nemesis asked. She was standing right by him. Heracles thought she must have just come over, because she wasn't there before.

Heracles blushed. It grew uncomfortably hot in the Lion's Pelt. "I'm fine." He mumbled. "At least, I will be when my foot stops throbbing." Heracles noticed Athena standing close by with a concerned look.

"You're sure?" Ms. Nemesis asked, also looking concerned.

Heracles felt his foot carefully. Good, nothing broken, just a bit bruised. "Nothing broken." He clarified. "Except my pride." He heard some chuckles, and almost everyone started to leave.

Almost.

Athena helped him pick up his textscrolls. "You might want to stow some of these in your locker," she suggested." And maybe you don't need to carry your club around all the time either."

Heracles gave a slight nod. "Good idea about the scrolls," He said. "But my club stays with me." They walked out of the room together.

Athena laughed, looking slightly embarrassed. Heracles liked her laugh. It was just so...happy. "On _my _first day here, a toy horse I'd had since I was a toddler rolled out of my bag in the middle of class."

"Whoa." Heracles grinned. No wonder she looked embarrassed. Heracles was glad that never happened to him. His friends, here and on Earth, would never let Heracles hear the end of it. "I guess I shouldn't feel _too _sorry for myself, then." He waved his club at the wall of lockers. "I think I'll take your advice before my next class. See you."

"Wait!" Athena said, before Heracles got to his locker. "I'm meeting up with some friends after school at the Supernatural Market. Want to come? They make the best ambrosia shakes ever."

"Sounds like fun." He leaned his club up against the locker next to his and twirled the lock on his own._ Yeah, I should have the time._ Heracles thought. _If I get the next few tasks done quick tomorrow, I'll still be on schedule._ "Where is the Supernatural Market?"

"On the other side of the sports fields, beyond the gymnasium," she said. "How about if I meet you by the stairs up to the dorms at the end of the day? We can walk together."

"Great! Catch you later, then." Heracles said.

Athena waved and went off, probably to her next class. Heracles waved back, smiling to himself. He didn't know why she was doing this, but whatever the reason, he was happy for it. Heracles shoved the majority of his textscrolls into his locker, closed the door, and hefted his club over his shoulder. Spirits high, Heracles started off to his next class. After he finished his tasks, and he was certain he would, (nothing could stop him now! Well, except maybe that one little problem task...) this would be a great year.

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**Done! Please, review. They keep me writing*****wince*though sorry for the wait. If there is the tiniest spelling/grammer error, I want to know. If you liked/hated the story, I want to know. If you have a story you want me to read/edit/beta let me know. If anything AT ALL happened in your life that you want me to know about, write your heart out in that little box and click the magic button! It'll only take a second, I promise.**

**And now, thank you to these wonderful people who reviewed!**

NightenGale10-Thank you! I love Persephone the Traitor. Your story is really good, too. I will write more. I will not give up on this story. It's weird, ya know. My name is also Leah, and I love Greek Mythology.

Ophelia Lokisdottir-I know what you mean, and I agree. I started reading these books by myself years ago, and I never grow out of the books I read. Here is the Update you requested!

NovaLight-:) I'm glad you like it, and you're welcome. Sorry I made you wait so long, though.

**I ship Herthena(Heracles/Athena) In case you didn't notice.**

**Yes! I officially claim that name! No one else can say they made it up! AHA!*Does weird dance* **

**Everyone else: 0.0*Edges slowly away***

**Me: Hey...:(**

**Form(For make-a-character):**

**Name/Boy-Girl(?)/Age/History(Optional, if blank, I'll make it up)/ Personality/Characteristics/Anything I need to know about this person?**

**Random Fact of the Day: Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia-Fear of long words. (If you are afraid of long words, I'm sorry for frightening you with the word HIPPOPOTOMONSTROSESQUIPPEDALIOPHOBIA!)**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't remember exactly, but I think this update was later. Sorry! Though there is a little less action than I would have liked. At least someone got hurt last chapter. Please, pardon my bloodthirstiness~- Remember this when Heracles leaves for an adventure on his own. I learned from the masters of cruel and unusual cliffhangers. **

**Also, since the Underworld exists here, there is absolutely nothing that says there can't be a little...accident...on Heracles' quest...One that he - and Hades - neglected to tell Athena, or anyone else. *Evil grin* **

**...I didn't scare you off, did I? I completely understand if I did. I won't do it if you guys don't want me to.**

**I'm really happy! I got a Wikia account today. I'm WikiGhost, in case you want to know. **

**Oh yeah, and there's something special at the bottom A/N.**

**Enjoy~**

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Heracles could barely keep from grinning as, swinging his club, he jogged up to the school, past the olive grove. He knew he should probably be heading down to Earth to take on the Hydra, but there was still plenty of time. How often was he going to get an offer like this? Heracles saw the MOA's solid-looking bronze doors a little ways off, the ones even he was sure he could never knock down, no matter how hard he tried.

Heracles slowed to a walk. He was a bit late, about twenty minutes. Heracles knew it was probably ridiculous to wish it, but he half hoped that Athena was also late. That way, there was less of a chance of her getting mad at him.

"_Psst!_" A voice hissed from behind a particularly dense cluster of trees.

Heracles did a double take. "H-hello?" He said, not much louder than a whisper.

The branches rustled, and a familiar head poked around. There was a cold, amused glint in his eyes. "What's wrong, _little cousin_? Did I scare you?"

Heracles roughly shook his head, furious that he'd let himself be surprised like that. "No, of course not, Eurystheus. What are you doing here? Don't you have someone else to annoy?" He snapped. Heracles neglected to mention that he was hardly the _little _cousin, seeing as it wouldn't make Eurystheus leave any faster.

Eurystheus grinned and fully emerged from the trees He stood in front of Heracles. "Touchy, touchy. Ah, I can see that you're in a bad mood. No worries, I have just the thing to change that."

Heracles gave his a cautious look. "What would that be?" He asked, seriously doubting the other boy.

The older cousin smiled again. This time, it looked smug, like he had caught Heracles doing something terrible. "I came to tell you that your first labor didn't count.***** You'll have to make up for it."

Heracles was shocked, and soon seeing red. "What do you mean, _IT DIDN'T COUNT?!_" He yelled, remembering everything he had to go through to get it done.

Eurystheus shrugged. "I don't know. You just didn't do it right. You didn't kill it the way you were supposed to."

Heracles seethed. He knew what Eurystheus really meant. _You weren't supposed to come back._"That is the most..." He growled, not trusting himself to speak. Heracles thought he would yell and rip Eurystheus' head off if he tried-WHICH, though it would be kinda fun, considering how Heracles felt right now, doing so would mean he would be kicked out of the MOA for sure. Honestly, sometimes Eurystheus took the rivalry thing too far.(And he needed to learn how to make better excuses...) He tightened his grip on his club until his knuckles turned white and shook his head again, trying to clear his thoughts. He noticed someone coming through the bronze doors. _Holy Zeus! _It was Athena, and she looked mad. No wonder, Heracles was now half an hour late. He turned back to his cousin. "I have to go." He said, as calmly as he could muster, turned, and started to walk away. He rested his club on his shoulder.

Eurystheus reached out and grabbed Heracles' lion's pelt by the mane. Heracles spun around, hefting his club. "Not yet," Eurystheus warned. "There's still the matter of that make-up labor to discuss."

Heracles drew back, away from the other boy's hand. "Fine." He snapped. "What suicidal task do I have to complete now?" The way Eurystheus' eyes gleamed made Heracles wish he had worded that differently.

"Change Task number twelve." Eurystheus said. "Instead of the previous task, you have to capture Cerberus and bring him to me."

Heracles' eyes widened, then narrowed again. "Are you INSANE? I know Hades! ...He's a friend of mine!" He added at Eurystheus' disbelieving gaze. "I can get into all kinds of trouble for stealing Cerberus, and not just with Hades! I can get into trouble with Zeus, and pretty much every god or goddess in the Underworld!" He yelled.

Eurystheus shrugged. "That's not my problem. It's yours. And you better find a way around Hades if you want to stay here." Eurystheus gave Heracles a sideways look as he turned to leave. "And I doubt another school would take you after your attack on the music teacher." He disappeared into the trees.

Heracles almost called after him, to remind him that it _wasn't _an attack, the music teacher was being a complete Son-of-a-Geryon and Heracles just lost his temper. Really, it was something that could happen to anyone. He broke away from the grove and jogged over to where Athena was waiting. "Athena!" Heracles called. He finally reached her. "Sorry I'm late," he said. "Are you mad?"

"A little..." Athena said, seeming unsure. Then she grinned. "But I'll get over it. Do you still want to go?"

"Yup!" Heracles said, relieved that Athena hadn't decided to abandon him yet. He didn't feel any of the previous anger now that he was with her...and away from Eurystheus.

They walked in silence towards the sports field. Athena broke it after a minute. "Who was that boy you were talking to?" She asked.

Heracles frowned. "My cousin. Eurystheus." _Unfortunately, _he added inside his head.

"Sounds like you weren't happy to see him," Athena said, sounding a little out of breath.

Heracles felt bad, and slowed down a little. "You got that right," He muttered.

Athena raised an eyebrow. "Something the matter?"

Heracles shook his head. "It's nothing," He lied. "Nothing I can't take care of, anyway."

They walked in silence for a bit longer. Heracles wished that it _was _true, that he could take care of it, but Heracles just couldn't see himself doing some of them, including that...ninth task.

"If you ever find yourself in trouble here or need help, will you ask me?" Athena asked, jolting Heracles out of his thoughts.

He glanced at her in surprise, and shrugged. "I guess so," He said, slightly confused. _How in the Underworld does she know...or does she...?_

They walked a bit farther. Heracles pointed to a huge, round building. "Is that the gymnasium?"

"Uh-huh," said Athena. "Sometimes the school holds dances there, and Apollo's band plays. It's open to the sky in the center."

"Wow," Heracles said. "My old school's gymnasium wasn't even half as big. It sure was nice of Principle Zeus to invite me here." He hesitated, not sure if what he was about to say was a sore point for Athena. "Guess he's your dad, huh?"

"Yes." Athena didn't seem bothered, thankfully.

It took a little while, but they finally arrived at the doors of the market. Three dogs, a greyhound, a beagle, and a bloodhound barked loudly and bounded over to them, all three tails wagging. Heracles guessed that they were Artemis';Apollo had told him that she had pets. The beagle went to Athena, who reached down to pet him. The greyhound and the bloodhound growled at Heracles. He guessed it was because of his cape. Heracles faintly remembered something about taming dogs, and held out his hand for them to sniff. Soon they were licking his fingers and yipping. Heracles smiled inwardly; He had remembered right.

"See you later, boys," Athena said. She patted the beagle one last time before going through the doors. Heracles followed, passing shelves of snacks. They came to a rack filled with _Teen Scrollazine _issues. Athena flipped over one featuring Orion's grinning face. "It's a long story." She told Heracles when he gave her a curious look.

They came to the back of the store, where the people Athena and Heracles had sat with earlier were gathered around a large round table, along with two others, one with spiky orange hair and the other with blue and gold hair. Heracles only recognized Pheme from the two.

Aphrodite waved. "About time you got here!" She called.

"Heracles!" shouted Apollo. "What are you doing here?"

Heracles responded with a grin. "_I _was invited," he replied. "And you?"

Apollo laughed. "Touche." He motioned to an empty seat between him and Poseidon. Still grinning, Heracles sat.

Persephone pulled Hades up by the hand. "We'll go get more shakes."

Artemis got up too. "I'll help."

Shakes...that sounded good to Heracles. He almost asked what kind, then realized that that was a stupid question. Athena had already told him that they were ambrosia shakes.

Aphrodite murmured something to Athena as the latter sat between Pheme and her, something Heracles couldn't catch. He shrugged it off. Probably some weird goddessgirl thing that he wouldn't understand anyway. Girls were just like that sometimes-No, all the time. Heracles had no idea how he was going to pull off the 9th labor.

They all laughed and talked for a bit. Eventually, Persephone, Hades, and Artemis returned with the shakes. Persephone handed one to Heracles, and he took a sip.

"Mmm." He said, and glanced at the undistributed shakes that Hades and Artemis still held. "You can just leave all of those with me," he said, and everyone laughed.

"Is that lion skin for real?" The blue-haired girl asked, staring at Heracles from across the table.

"Sure, " Heracles replied. "Is your blue hair for real?"

She blushed and reached up to pat her hair. "It's the school colors, didn't you know?"

Heracles smiled. Yes, he did know.

Apollo nudged Heracles with his elbow. "Tell the girls that story you told us at lunch," he said.

"Yeah, the one about how you got your lion cape." Poseidon agreed.

Heracles shrugged. "They don't want to hear about that."

"I do," Artemis said, "As long as you stick to the facts."

Heracles glanced around the table at the other goddessgirls for confirmation. They nodded.

"Go on, tell us," said Athena.

"Okay, but I hope you aren't squeamish," said Heracles, a little worried. "Truth is that I had to kill this lion because it was a big problem for the people of Nemea. Afterward I skinned it, and now I wear its pelt." He smiled at Artemis. "And those are the facts."

Poseidon thumped his trident on the floor. "You left out all the good stuff. Tell them about the lion's impenetrable skin!"

"Impene-what?" Persephone asked.

"Heracles' arrows weren't any good against the lion," Hades explained. "It's skin was so thick and tough, the arrows just bounced off."

Picking up the story, Apollo began miming the actions as he described them. "So he chased the lion into its lair, wrestled it to the ground, and snapped its neck with his bare hands."

"Goodness!" Aphrodite exclaimed. "How gruesome! I can't help feeling sorry for the lion."

"Don't," said Poseidon, shaking his head. "That lion was a menace. It got kicks out of terrorizing the Nemean people, killing their farm animals, and-" He paused, not wanting to say what might come next.

"And _worse."_ Heracles finished, remembering the stories he had heard from the villagers.

Athena looked slightly confused. "If the lion's hide was impenetrable, how did you manage to skin it?"

Heracles ran his hand down the side of his pelt. "I puzzled over that for the longest time," he admitted. "It could have come back to life if I hadn't, so I had to find a way. Can you guess?"

Athena looked thoughtful. Then, almost as soon as he asked her, she snapped her fingers. "The claws!" she exclaimed. "You cut the pelt with the lion's own claws!"

Heracles was surprised. He would have never figured it out that fast. Not even close. "Wow. You sure figured that out fast. It would have saved me some time if you'd been with me." Heracles said, completely serious.

The other godboys laughed, but Heracles ignored them.

"Why couldn't the Nemeans kill the lion themselves?" asked Pandora. "Why did _you_ have to kill it for them?"

"Um, well," said Heracles, not wanting to mention his current dilemma. "I just did." Then he abruptly changed the subject. "Hey, Apollo, Artemis. I hear your practicing for a new archery competition."

The twins exchanged a glance. "Yeah," said Artemis. Apollo nodded in agreement.

After that, they talked until it was almost time for dinner, when everyone started back to the Academy. The godboys walked ahead of the girls, who were chatting.

Heracles dodged a mock punch thrown by Poseidon. Heracles was about to retaliate when Hades-who was right behind him- mimicked Ms. Nemesis so well that Heracles jumped. Laughing, they continued until they crossed the courtyard.

"Bye," Heracles told the others, and broke away. He headed for a trail that led down to Earth. It was lined with different trees and clusters of grapevines, which made Heracles feel slightly claustrophobic. _Time to go fight the Hydra._ He told himself, less than thrilled. He barely noticed the loud _hoot _as he trekked down to the Hydra's lair, dismissing it as unimportant.

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***=Actually, in the legends it was the second labor that didn't count, but I'm changing it to first for story purposes.**

**Whew! Another one done! I thought I'd never finish it! And this one is longer than the others. Yes!**

**And here are responses to your wonderful reviews!**

**Ophelia Lokisdottir****-**I answered your question already.:) And you're welcome!

**NightenGale10****-**Thank you so much! Reviews like this make me so happy! Even a little 'Good Job' every now and then is wonderful! Though, forgive me if something happens to Airlia, I need this story to fit as much as possible. Sorry.:(

**Apollower****-**I know you didn't review, but you let me know anyway, and that's just as good. Thanks, and I'm sorry you can't get Pheme the Gossip yet. It's a great book. My offer is still valid, if you want. Have you thought about writing a story? I'd read it if you did.

**AthenaTheWisdomGoddess**-Thanks! I'm glad that you want to read my story!

**A Guest-** I'm touched. :')

**Wow. Only three more reviews, and I'll have more reviews than there are Goddess Girls Fanfics.**

**On a completely unrelated note:**

**Okay, so, I made this story. It has nothing to do with this fanfiction/story/characters. It's just a story that I had nowhere else to put. I think I gave my muse too much sugar or something, because I was eating cookies, and I had a sudden shot of inspiration. Nothing about cookies, though. Just read and see.**

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You've heard them all. A broken mirror means bad luck. Never open an umbrella indoors. Don't walk under ladders. It's only good luck to find a penny if it's heads-up when you find it. Never stop at 13. Be especially careful on Friday the Thirteenth. Don't step on a crack.

Bad luck, good luck, all these 'superstitions' have been around as long as anyone can remember. But how was it started? How does it work, and why does it seem to not to anymore?

This is how. I am an age old spirit who knows of these things. I am, more or less, the embodiment of what you call Luck. Do not confuse me with my twin, Karma. That is another spirit, another legend. I assure you, Luck is entirely different.

Not everyone could see me, but everyone knew who I was. Who we were.

Before I explain, I must say that everyone starts out with, and eventually receives, equal good and bad luck.

You see, when you things like, say, walk under a ladder, it twists around time and space. For the tiniest of a split second, what is wrong is right, what is up is down, and what is black is white. In other words, everything is its total opposite. This happens so fast that very, very few can perceive it. I am one of those, and I have everything to do with the misfortune that follows. What happens is, when you do this, someone on the complete opposite does something to receive 'good luck', such as finding a penny. They do not actually receive any, of course. Only bad luck can be given, or in this case, taken away. The vast majority of that other persons bad luck is simply transferred to you, and something terrible follows as a result. That is my job. It is-sorry, was a job I took very seriously, and with great pride. I'll elaborate why it is no longer in a second.

Friday the Thirteenth, a day that sadly doesn't come often enough, was the day where I no longer followed the rules. Where, no matter if they had twisted the Universe with unlucky actions, I cause misfortune to everyone and everything. How? Well, the whole world isn't in the same day. Think of it like this. You don't notice it, but you are reasonably luckier the days before and after Friday 13th. I'll let you figure it out, as my ancient mind has become tired of writing.

I used to be known. I was feared throughout the world. Many thought me to be a god. They weren't far off. It was a good feeling, being believed in. It is a feeling I have long since missed deeply. People just aren't as superstitious as they used to be. They write me off as a fairy tale. Bah! Silly fat man in a red suit. Tall, faceless man. Little green one with pot of gold. That is a fairy tale. I am not. I am real. It is sad, they do not even think of me as a living being anymore. I grew bored, eventually. Tired. I was getting no recognition for my hard work. Until you read this, no living mortal knew I existed. You will find that luck no longer works the way it used to. I have faded away, waiting in the unending darkness. I am everything and nothing at the same time. At least, I used to be. Now, as you read this, I am imprinting myself onto you. In your mind. I will feel and see as you do. You will be a wonderful host. I will reward you, when I fully return. And I will return, perhaps sooner than you think. The time will be right. Even now, I am saving energy to make a full recovery. In the meantime, go. Go spread the word that Luck is returning with their twin, Karma. Yes, Karma has also faded. We are as separate as you can be yet as intertwined as you can get. We are linked to one another.

Spread the word. Pass it on. For me, Luck, for Karma, and for all other old, forgotten spirits. Tell all who we really are. Tell all where those legends came from. Tell all why we faded. Tell all this story. Tell all that we will return.

Because, I promise you, before this millennium is up, we will return.

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**DunDunDunnnn...Well? Whadda think? Good? Bad? Wonderful? Terrible? Did you even read it? Tell me what you think!**

**If I got any part of the dialogue wrong, if I misspelled a single word, let me know. I want to know.**

**Review! Flames, Bashers, and Trolls, do your worst! I've got a banana and I'm not afraid to use it! *Holds up apple***

**Oh, and I made a story for NERDS, if anyone likes that series.**

**With love,**

** ~Riverstone**


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